Wages and holidays

[laineynic]

My husband has been working for his employer for over 20 years. He works hard and has worked alongside his boss building the business. He goes the extra mile - he organises the work sheets in the mornings, goes out if they break down in the vans. Fixes equipment that would cost a fortune if he dind't do it.

When his boss goes away holidays ect, my husband is left in charge. He has reached manager level and gets well paid for it.

However whe we go on holiday - my husbands wage drops to minimum wages - this can mean a drop of between £75 - £150 just for going on holiday. We are beginning to feel that it is a penalty to have a holiday. We can't afford to loose money like this and wondered if what they are doing is legal.

Speaking to all the other lads who work with him he has found that they are all in the same boat. He now feels worthless. We have never noticed it as much until this year when we were away on holiday for 3 weeks. Apparently it happens to the other lads all the time. That holiday vost us £450 in what he would have earned if he hadn't gone on holiday.

Many of them have told us that they think long and hard before going on holiday because they don't know how much money they have to come back to.

Any advice?

[loulou11]

hi

Your hubby should be paid at the same rate heres a link good luck

your rights: Am I entitled to holiday pay at my part time job? - from workSMART.org.uk

[loulou11]

sorry that link was regarding part time, here one for full time

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/e_holi...oliday_pay.pdf

[paulgmb]

all employees should receive their normal weekly wage when taking holiday. what is the justification in making these unlawful deductions?

Even if the boss tries to say that part of the wage is not guarnteed like an attendance bonus for example, the fact that they receive the same money every week/month means it is part of the normal monthly/weekly wage.

Many employers actually pay average earnings for holidays going back over the previous 13 weeks, not make deductions.

Get your husband to get his colleagues together and submit a collective grievance over this matter. If there is a Union there they will do this for you. if not sounds like they need one!

regards,

Paul.

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, sorry to hear you're having problems regarding holiday pay - sounds a bit strange to me.

Is your husband's normal pay enhanced by overtime payments? i.e. what hours per week is he contracted for and how many hours does he actually work/get paid for.

For example: if you are contracted to work 40 hours per week but you do 20 hours overtime each week - holiday pay will only be paid for the 40 hours.

But - if you are paid a standard salary each week or month then you should be paid the same amount when you are on holiday.

Does your husband's contract of employment (or statement of terms and conditions) have a section regarding how holiday pay is calculated, or are there any written rules regarding holidays?

Kind Regards

Ell-enn

[laineynic]

I have been monitoring my husbands pay for the last 8 weeks and his average pay pe week works out at £280 per week. BUt when he taks a holiday it drops to £220.

I havent found anything in his contract to say that when he is on holiday his rateof pay drops to miniu wge. All I know is that he is paid on the amount of work completed in that week.

It is becomming clear that he is pealised for taking a holiday. loosing money when we wenton holiday has been a nightmare. We never anticipated that we would loose so much in him having n holiday.

He practically manigees the business for them. If they go away he's in charg. But it counts for nothing when he gets paid.

Surely to drop his wage to so low when we are on holiday can't be right, can it?

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, it sounds to me like his basic wage is £220 and the extra is made up of bonuses/overtime?. Where I work employees are not paid overtime if they are on holiday, they only get their basic pay (although they still get their shift premium).

Given the responsibility that your husband has in the business, perhaps he should ask his boss to make him salaried (with an increase to reflect his hard work) then he would be paid the same every month no matter what.